Balungan instruments

metallophone used in Javanese gamelan to play the core melody

The bonang is an Indonesian musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (rancak), either one or two rows wide. All of the kettles have a central boss, but around it the lower-pitched ones have a flattened head, while the higher ones have an arched one. Each is tuned to a specific pitch in the appropriate scale; thus there are different bonang for pelog and slendro. They are typically hit with padded sticks (tabuh). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the ga

The slenthem (also slentem or gender panembung) is an Indonesian metallophone which makes up part of a Javanese gamelan orchestra. The slenthem is part of the gendér family. It consists of a set of bronze keys comprising a single octave: there are six keys when playing the slendro scale and seven when playing the pelog. These keys are suspended by leather cords over individual bamboo tube resonators in a wooden frame, which are cut so that the placement of the bamboo's node causes the functional length of the resonator to be shorter for higher notes. The instrument is played by striking the ke

The slentho (also spelled slento) is a musical instrument of the gamelan. It is similar to the saron family of instruments, and would be its lowest member (pitched one octave below the saron demung). Like those instruments, it has (typically) seven keys in the same arrangement, over a resonator box, and is hit with a wooden mallet (tabuh). However, unlike the other sarons, the center of its keys have a boss similar to that of a bonang. The slentho usually has the same notes as the slenthem, but a brighter, louder sound.